Kid's bike - no end of trouble

[plastics]

Hi All - wondering if anyone has any ideas about this. We are complete amateurs when it comes to bikes, and unfortunately grandparents decided to splash out on a Specialized Riprock Coaster 12 for our 4 year old (when we thought an £80 paw patrol one from a high street shop would be sufficient for now). In any case, we are out of our depth, as it arrived after an online order and I had to put the pedals and handlebars on - even that was a puzzle for me, so shows my lack of ability/knowledge in this area. In any case, after finding the right allen key we managed to get it sorted.

After all that, our son has ridden it like 4 or 5times, and then today suddenly the brakes stopped working. Looking closely looks like something has gotten loose and fallen away - no idea what or how that has happened, but is that to be expected? Is it an easy repair job or needs someone who knows what they are doing? Don't want to take chances with our son! Also, is there any element of defective workmanship for this kind of thing to happen, or is it something that often happens?

Any views/ideas would be welcome

[Jdsk]

I think that the curved noodle has come away from the right hand brake...
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/canti-direct.html


You can probably refit it by hand but then you should look for faults and check the adjustment.

Do you want to learn how to do basic maintenance or will you rely on a shop/ mobile mechanic? I recommend:
Sheldon Brown:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com
and
Park Tools Repair Help:
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help

Jonathan

[nick12]

Looks like the noodle( bent silver tube that the cable goes through ) needs re attaching in the left hand part of the brake. The rubber section fits in between the two sections of the break. Look at the rear break to see how that is fitted.

[plastics]

Thanks both for the speedy replies!
I think probably I will rely on a shop then unless it is a simple case of just pushing it back in, but just worried about messing it up and he ends up with failed brake again...also there is no rear brake, just front one..
From the sounds of it, I am assuming this is routine basic maintenance then for the average cyclist, this is not an issue with original set up/workmanship when it was despatched...don't want to claim on the warranty if this kind of thing isn't covered and simple/cheap job for a shop to sort out...

[Jdsk]

...also there is no rear brake, just front one..

It has a coaster brake... activated by pressing the pedals backwards. But it does mean that you can't look to the rear for reference!

Jonathan

[rjb]

It's not unknown for a poor cable routing to be responsible. If the bars have been swung round and pulled the front brake cable tight it can then rip the noodle out from the brake arm causing the noodle retention enclosure to bend resulting in an insecure arrangement if the noodle is just replaced. This is potentially very dangerous so if not sure I would take it to a bike mechanic to get it inspected. Sometimes you can improve the retention by adding a cable tie.

Have a read of this link. viewtopic.php?t=138022

[Brucey]

there should be such a thing as a manual for your bike, normally downloadable in pdf form. However I've just looked on the Specialized website and I'm dashed if I can find it. Unless I have missed something obvious I'm inclined to the view that their website is rubbish.

Fortunately other bike manufacturers have better websites and bikes don't differ that much from one make to another. So you can learn plenty from a Giant bicycle manual, for example, eg

https://dk8nafk1kle6o.cloudfront.net/Manuals/Bikes/Giant/Bike/Giant_Bike_EN.pdf

Appendix C tells you about the coaster brake. The V brake (which appears to have simply come unhooked as mentioned above ) should be covered in an earlier section.

hth

cheers

[iandusud]

In any case, after finding the right allen key we managed to get it sorted.

I hope you've managed to refit the front brake. I note that you managed to fit the handle bars and pedals "after finding the right allen key". Please note that you will not tighten the pedals sufficiently with an allen key. You will need to use an open ended spanner (almost certainly 15mm) to get them tight enough. If they come at all loose and the bike is ridden they will likely ruin the threads on the cranks.
Ian

[plastics]

Thanks all for the advice
Sounds like definitely worth dropping it at a reputable cycle shop for a mechanic to take a look and make sure the whole thing is sorted properly...

[hamster]

unfortunately grandparents decided to splash out on a Specialized Riprock Coaster 12 for our 4 year old (when we thought an £80 paw patrol one from a high street shop would be sufficient for now).

The grandparents have done you a huge favour. Your child has a really good bike that will be a joy to ride. With kids being so light it's easy for them to end up with a cheap bike that weighs almost as much as they do (imagine trying to pedal a Vespa uphill). Your child is much more likely to enjoy the whole thing and make rapid progress.

The bike will also hold its value instead of being worth its weight in scrap steel in 5 years' time.

[foxyrider]

unfortunately grandparents decided to splash out on a Specialized Riprock Coaster 12 for our 4 year old (when we thought an £80 paw patrol one from a high street shop would be sufficient for now).

The grandparents have done you a huge favour. Your child has a really good bike that will be a joy to ride. With kids being so light it's easy for them to end up with a cheap bike that weighs almost as much as they do (imagine trying to pedal a Vespa uphill). Your child is much more likely to enjoy the whole thing and make rapid progress.

The bike will also hold its value instead of being worth its weight in scrap steel in 5 years' time.

+1 having spent many a year selling kids bikes the ones with the most issues are always the 'themed' things be it Barbie, Batman or Ninja Turtles - they've spent so much on the licence theres nothing left for the parts so you get the cheapest of the cheap component wise. Broken pedals, ineffective plastic brake parts and they often weigh more than an adult bike, the shop i worked in stopped doing them as they were such a liability, Giant, Cube and Specialized would be my go to brands in terms of quality/price, the GP's done well by you and your child

[531colin]

Most people won't be old enough to remember when kids' bikes came with a device to stop the handlebars turning all the way round; but thats whats needed. (Last seen on the Raleigh Twenty, I think)

[Brucey]

unfortunately grandparents decided to splash out on a Specialized Riprock Coaster 12 for our 4 year old (when we thought an £80 paw patrol one from a high street shop would be sufficient for now).

The grandparents have done you a huge favour....

I also agree.

cheers

[TheBomber]

Most people won't be old enough to remember when kids' bikes came with a device to stop the handlebars turning all the way round; but thats whats needed. (Last seen on the Raleigh Twenty, I think)

There was one on the Frog bike I just sold on Ebay on behalf of a friend. A bike which confirmed the earlier comment up thread about good children’s bikes holding their value.

[mattsccm]

OP
Just hook that brake up as indicated. No disagreement there.
Re the allen key and pedals thing. Many of us would actually say that such a tool would not only be fine but better than a spanner. You can't over tighten it that way and many pedals only have an allen key hole anyway. If it is as tight as you can do without hurting your hand then its plenty tight!
spend your, possibly restricted, free time browsing youtube looking for how to do it videos.
Park do excellent ones and the Sheldon Brown website gives great information about what is what.